Electric regulation



1943- I J. L. CREVELING 2,453,065

ELECTRIC REGULATION Filed NOV. 15, 1944 INVENTOR:

Patented Nov. 2, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRIC REGULATIONJohn L. Creveling, near Tucson, Ariz.

Application November 15, 1944, Serial No. 563,502

22 Claims. 1

My invention pertains to that class of electric regulation wherein thevoltage upon or the current in an electric circuit is to be controlledautomatically.

An object of my invention is to provide a sensitive regulator havingrelatively wide range which may be of small dimensions and cheaplybuilt.

Another object is to provide an automatic regulator which shall comeinto action only when its services are required. Other objects will bepointed out in the specification or obvious therefrom to those skilledin the art.

As my invention is particularly applicable to systems wherein the dynamoor generator subject to intermittent operation and wide changes in speedis employed to charge a storage battery and supply lamps or othertranslating devices, it will be described with particular reference tosuch a system.

Fig, I is a more or less diagrammatic represen tation of a systemincluded in my invention, showing some parts in elevation, some insection, and some in diagram.

Fig. II includes a section of a commercial type of regulatorcomprehended by my invention, which is shown in a system having anauxiliary device whi h may be employed if desired. Fig. III is a partialsection and partial elevation of a modified form of my invention adaptedto control both the current and voltage of a generator.

Insofar as common subject matter appears, this s a continuation of myapplications for patent for improvements in Electric regulation, No.520,739, filed February 2, 1944, and No. 539,931, filed June 12, 1944,now Patent No. 2,441,059 of May 4, 1948.

In Fig. I, which is more or less of a laboratory type of apparatus, lindicates a dynamo or generator having the shunt field coil 2, one endof which is connected with one brush of the generator and the other withthe upper end of the carbon pile 3 as by wire 4 while the lower end ofthe pile 3 is connected with the opposite side of the generator, as bywire 5. The pile 3 is compressed between the upper pressure plate 6carried by lever l and the lower pressure plate 8 carried by the lever 9due to the action of spring it which tends to draw the levers togetherabout their pivots H and I2. The pile is insulated from the pressureplates as indicated and may be held in and 9 through the instrumentalityof the adjustable screw and nut arrangement indicated at I3 and theheaded rod M which has its head bearing upon the arched bi-metallicstrip [5, the function of which will be explained. The lower pressureplate 8 is connected with the curved member [6 bearing upon the steelsprin ll having its ends supported in any suitable manner as indicatedat l8, tending to move the levers and pile 3 upwardly until arrested bythe adjustable screw I9. The screw it is here shown as electricallyconnected with the wire 4 while the end of lever l is shown as insulatedand connected as by wire 2!! with the right-hand brush of the generatorto indicate that this contact between I and the screw l9 may be used toshort-circuit the pile this time if desired. The spring i1 is clampedbetween the member I6 and member 2| as by screws indicated at 22 andmember 2| is attached to the disc armature 23 of the ironcladelectromagnet comprising the shell 24, core 25 and winding 26, which maybe supported by any suitable means (not shown) in substantially theposition indicated. The right-hand brush of the generator is connectedby wire 26 with one side of the storage battery 2? and translatingdevices 28 having their opposite terminals connected with the wire 29leading to one side of any suitable automatic switch, the mere presenceof which is indicated at 30, as these switches or reverse current relaysare well known in the art. The switch 30 has its opposite side connectedthrough the removable link 3! with the left-hand brush of the generatorI. The opposite terminals or connectors of the link 3! are connected asby wires 36 and 31 with the ends of the solenoid 38 surrounding the core39 of iron or other suitable magnetic material adapted when movedupwardly to engage the extension of lever 53 and tend to rotate thelever in a counter-clockwise direction. While the solenoid isshort-circuited when the link 3| is in place as shown, if the link beremoved the solenoid 38 will be placed in series with the generator andits load and the portion of the generator current which will traversethe solenoid may be adjusted as by the adjustable shunt indicated at 49.Attraction of armature 23 by magnet 24, 25, 26 tends to move the leversl and 9 and pile 3 downwardly against the effort of spring I! withoutmaterially affecting the efiect of spring l0 upon the pile until lever lstrikes the adjustable screw 35 and then any further downward movementof the armature elongates the spring Hi to relieve the pressure upon thepile 3. Screw '35 is here shown as connected with the wire 34,

which may be connected with any suitable point upon resistor 33, so asto short-circuit a portion thereof for the purpose of adjustment, ifthis be desired.

In Fig. II the field coil 2 is connected with the pile 3 as in Fig. I bywires 4 and i4 but wire l is shown as having interpolated therein thewinding 4| upon the core 42 of an auxiliary device which may be employedif desired Core 42 rests upon the base 43 of insulating material andhas, clamped between it and the base, a flexible strip serving as ahinge at the lower end of armature 44. Armature 44 carries the contactmember 45 adapted to strike the contact member 46 carried by the memberM when the armature 44 is attracted toward core 48 is a leaf springtending to hold armature 44 against the stop 49 of non-magnetic materialwhile 56 is a bendable member for adjusting the effort of spring 43.Member 4'! is connected with wire l4 as by wire and core 42 is connectedas by wire 52 with the stationary contact member 53 normally in contactwith the armature 54 of the electromagnet 55, said contact being due tospring 56. Armature 54 is connected as by wire 51 with one end of theadjustable resistor 58 having its opposite end in communication with thewire 4. Thus, when contact is made at points 45-46 the resistor 58 isplaced in shunt to the pile 3 to lighten the load upon the pile to theextent that may be desired. The winding of magnet 55 has one endconnected with the wire 26 by wire 59, while the opposite end isconnected by wire 83 with the wire 3! and thus with the opposite lead ofthe generator. The pile 3 is here shown as composed of perforated discswithin the bore of the body portion 63 having heat dissipating fins andpreferably made of non-magnetic metal. The discs are insulated from thebody portion by a thin tube of insulating material 65,

and from the pressure plates 61 and 68, as indicated. The rod 66 passesthrough. the perforations in the discs without contact and has its lowerend attached to the member 5T while its upper portion passes through thepressure plate 68 and its stem 69 surrounded by the threaded sleeve "l0within the screw plug ll. The washer l2 bears upon the stem 69 andsupports the spring 73 against which washer l4 may be drawn as by thenut 75. As rod 66 passes freely through the pressure plate 68 and itsstem 69, and stem 63 passes freely through the bore of sleeve It], thepile 3 is compressed between the lower pressure plate 6! and the upperpressure plate 68 by the spring 13 and also by spring 'l'l resting uponthe ledges 18 and pressing upwardly against member 16 attached to member61. Armature 23 is attached to the member 16 as by screws 86 passingthrough the member I?) and clamping the spring ll between members 16 and19. Therefore, if armature 23 be drawn downwardly as by magnet 24, 25,26 it will not materially affect the pressure upon the pile due tospring I3 until washer l2 strikes the top of the adjustable sleeve it,and then any further downward movement of armature 23 will relieve thepressure upon pile 3.

In Fig. III the parts above the magnet 2t, .25, 26 are assumed to be thesame as in Fig. II while the lower portion of said magnet carries themember 8|, which in turn carries the magnet comprising shell 82, core 83and winding 84- here shown as a coarse winding adapted to be placed inseries with the generator as by wires 85 and 86. The shell 82 carriesthe member 81 which supports the spring 88 which may comprise a perillforated leaf or a pair of imperforate leaves clamped between members 39and 90 carried by the tube 3i which passes freely through the boreindicated in core 83 and which surrounds the rod ill. attached to thearmature 23, which rod may move freely through the bore of magnet andtube 9!. Rod 92 is provided at its lower end with a nut 93 which may beadjusted to be engaged by the lower end of tube 9| when the armature 94-carried at the upper end of the tube is drawn downwardly by the magnet82, 83, 84, so that the magnet may then affect the operation of theregulator by adding its pull to that of magnet 24, 25, 26 upon armature23. Member 37 carries a flexible insulated spring strip 55 provided withthe contact 96 adapted to engage the contact 97 when the parts are inthe positions shown in the drawing while the contacts may be separatedupon downward movement of rod 32. Member 8| may be provided with windowsas shown at 98 while member 87 may have windows as indicated at 59permitting observation and adjustment of the parts. Tube 9| carries anut H10 whereby its upward movement may be adjusted and the contactmembers 96 and SI may be connected by wires I02 and ill! in shunt to thepile 3 (not shown in this figure) so as to short-circuit the pile whenthe contact is made, as when the parts are in the positions shown in thedrawing.

An operation of my invention as indicated in Fig. I is substantially asfollows:

If the generator be at rest the switch will be open and the translatingdevices 28 may be supplied by the battery 2'! in the usual manner.

If the generator be started and graduall brought up to full speed andthe left-hand brush be taken as positive, current will flow through thefield coil 2, wire 4, pile 3, 'wire 5 and wire 26 back to the generator,but this will only be a very weak current so long as the end of lever 7remains in contact with the screw [9, as the pile 3 is thenshort-circuited through the wire 26 to cause the generator held to buildup as rapidly as possible upon starting. Current will also flow throughwire 32 to the winding 26 of the magnet 24, 25, 26 and return throughadjustable resistor 33 and wire 26 to the generator. This will cause themagnet to tend to draw armature 23 downwardly against the effort ofspring l7 and by properly selecting the spring if and adjusting theresistor 33 the magnet may be caused to move its armature to relieve thepressure of II upon the pile and draw the parts connected with thearmature downwardly so as to draw lever 9, pile 3, lever 11 and spring16 downwardly and break the connection at screw it when the desiredvoltage is. reached upon the generator. At the time the con tact oflever l and screw I9 is broken the pile 3 is at the maximum compressionspring in is capable of exerting and remains substantially so untillever i has its downward movement arrested by the screw and then anyfurther downward movement of armature 23 will lessen the pressure uponthe pile 3 and increase the resistance thereof. And, as here shown,screw 35 may be connected as by wire 34 with any desired point upon theresistor 33 so as to shortcircuit a portion thereof if desired for thepurpose of adjustment of the current in winding 26 at this time. Withthis type of electromagnet indicated in a general manner in the drawingat 24, 25, 26 the pull per ampere turn increases very rapidly as thearmature approaches the magnet and I so adjust the screw 35 that it willarrest the move ment of lever 1 at such a point that the voltage to beheld constant throughout the tendency to rise will cause magnet 23, 24,25 to so attract the armature 23 and relieve the pressure upon pile 3 asto prevent this voltage from being appreciably exceeded. This may beaccomplished by allowing the armature to assume a position in the fieldof the magnet that causes substantially the same number of ampere turnsto balance the efiort of spring ID and the elasticity of the pile as isrequired to move lever 1 into contact with screw 35, while furtheradjustment may be made by properly varying the efiective value ofresistor 33 upon contact with screw 35 if desired through connection ofwire 34 with the proper point thereon.

With this arrangement the magnet will not appreciably affect thepressure upon pile 3, due to spring in, during the building u ofgenerator voltage to the maximum value to be held upon the generator,but when this value is reached may cause the same to be held constantthroughout its tendency to increase within very narrow limits. And, ifthe generator be running under such condition that appreciableresistance has been inserted by reducing the pressure upon the pile 3,and then slow down, the reverse cycle will take place in an obviousmanner.

It will here be noted that if contact of lever 7 with screw H! be notemployed to short-circuit the pile as when the connection of screw I9with wire 4 is omitted, the initial movement of armature 23 will relievethe pressure of spring II to affect the field current before relievingthe pressure due to spring l and that the joint action of spring In andspring i! may cause the resistance of the pile to be so low thatshort-circuiting may not be desired in many cases.

When the generator voltage, during the above process reachessubstantially that of the battery, the main switch 30, if properlychosen, will close and connect the generator with the battery andtranslating circuit to supply the same in a wellknown manner undervoltage regulation. If desired to prevent the generator current fromexceeding a certain limit this may be accomplished by removing the link3|, whereupon the generator current or a portion thereof as determinedby resistor 40 may be caused to pass through the solenoid indicated at38 which is so arranged that when the current therein reaches a maximumdesired value, it will raise the core 39 into contact with the extensionof lever 9 and prevent this maximum value from being materiallyexceeded.

As the winding 26 becomes heated, due to the current therein, itsresistance will of course rise and tend to alter the adjustment of theregulator. This may be overcome by the well-known method of a swampingresistance at 33 or by the device indicated at I or both. For, as thecoil 26 becomes heated, the parts associated therewith will also havetheir temperature raised and [5 indicates an arched bi-metallic memberwhich flattens upon temperature rise, so as to alter the effort ofspring in in such manner as to tend to compensate for the resistancerise in coil 23.

In the structure of Fig. II the carbon pile is connected in series withthe field coil 2 across the generator by wires 4 and I4 as in Fig. I,but the Wire M has inserted therein the magnet coil 4|, which may beemployed for a purpose which will hereinafter be pointed out, and thecoil 26 is across the generator circuit as by wires 60, Si and 62.Therefore, when the generator voltage reaches the value which it isdesired not to be exceeded, magnet 24, 25, 26 may, by proper adjustment,be caused to relieve the pressure of spring I! upon the pile and drawthe armature 23, members 19, T6, "I, carbon pile 3, rod 66, pressureplate 68 and its stem 69, washer 12, spring 73, washer I4 and nut 15downwardly until washer l2 strikes the adjustable sleeve 10, withoutmaterially altering the pressure upon pile 3 due to spring 13 and thenany tendency in generator voltage to rise will cause magnet 24, 25, 25to draw the armature 23 downwardly against the efiort of spring 13 so asto relieve the pressure upon pile 3, and, by thus raising its resistanceprevent the generator from exceeding this desired voltage as explainedwith respect to Fig. I.

When the generator is operating at a speed just sumcient to produce thedesired maximum voltage or when carrying a heavy load, it will requirethe greatest field current, and as this passes through coil 4| this coilmay be caused to attract its armature M and close the contact at 45, 46,which will cause the resistor 58 to be placed in shunt to the pile 3 soas to relieve the same of a part of the field current until action ofthe pile has so weakened the field, as upon increase of generator speedor lessening of the load, that spring 48 is able to break the contact at45, 46. And, since the current carried by the resistor 58 passes throughthe contact member 53 and armature 54, this circuit may be caused to beopened by voltage magnet 55 if for any reason the voltage of thegenerator tend to increase above a desired value and require the fullrange of the pile for its control.

In the structure of Fig. III the magnet 24, 25, 2E and the parts assumedto be above the same will operate in the same manner as in Fig. II ifconnected in the same way, though of course, the shunting deviceoperated by magnet 4|, 42 may be omitted in the structure of eitherfigure unless desired to increase the carrying capacity of the regulatorabove that of the pile alone.

With this structure, if the wires and 86 be connected as 36 and 37 arein Figs. I and II and the link 31 removed, the generator current willpass through winding 84 and cause the magnet 32, 83, 84 to tend to drawits armature 94, tube 9!, members 89 and 90, and nut I06 downwardlyagainst the action of spring 38. By properly adjusting the parts and thecurrent in winding 84, as by means of a shunt as shown at All} in Fig.I, the desired maximum generator current may readily be caused to bringthe end of tube 9| into contact with nut 93 and by drawing the rod 92downwardly prevent this current value from being materially exceeded.

t will be noted that the members 15 in Fig. I, 16 in Fig. II and 89 inFig. III all have curved lower faces bearing upon their respectivesprings. This curvature is such that, as these members are drawndownwardly, they increase the bearing upon the springs in such manner asto give the springs the proper pull characteristic to compensate for thevariation in pull of the magnets upon their armatures upon alteration ofthe air gap. Further, it is obvious that springs I! of Fig. I and E1 ofFig. II may be so designed and arranged that, when the piles 3 are undermaximum compression and in the positions shown in the figures the eiTectof said springs upon the piles may be either quite material orinconsequential as desired.

If wires l0! and 102 of Fig. III be connected across the pile 3 as bybeing connected with wires 4 and I4 shown in Fig. II, the contact 96, 91may be caused to short-circuit the pile until armature 23 is drawndownwardly and rod 92, by flexing spring 95 opens the contact to producethe same result as breaking the contact between the end of lever l andscrew ill in Fig. I.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have produced a regulatorwhich will not affect the generator until its voltage reaches thedesired maximum value then will hold the same sub stantially constantthroughout further increases in speed and it will be obvious that thecurrent may be controlled in the same manner as the voltage by using acurrent winding in the structures where I have shown only voltagewindings.

I do not here limit myself to any of the exact constructions shown norto any of the particular modes of operation herein described, which havebeen set forth merely to illustrate a few embodiments of my invention,which is as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. Regulating means including a regulating element, means tending todecrease the resistance of said element, automatic electromagnetic meanshaving an air gap for moving said element and the resistance decreasingmeans a p-redetei mined distance functionally to affect the automaticmeans by changing the length of the air gap without materially affectingthe resistance of said element and means whereby further movement of aportion of the resistance decreasing means increases the resistance ofsaid element.

2. Regulating means including a regulating element, means tending todecrease the resistance of said element, automatic electromagnetic meansfor moving said element and the resistance decreasing means apredetermined distance to a just the electromagnetic operatingcharacteristic of the moving means wi hout materially affecting theresistance of said element, means where-- by further movement of aportion of the resistance decreasing means increases the resistance ofsaid element, said moving means so moving said portion.

3. Regulating means including a regulating element, means tending todecrease the resistance of said element, electromagnetic means formoving said element and the resistance decreasing means a predetermineddistance to adjust the electromagnetic operating characteristic themoving means without materially affecting the resistance of element,means whereby further movement of a portion of the resistance decreasingincreases the resistance of said element said moving means in ludingelectro-magnetic means for so moving said portion.

4. Regulating means including a regulating element, means tending todecrease the resistance of said element, electromagnetic means formoving said element and the resistance decreasing means a predetermineddistance to adjust the electromagnetic operating characteristic of themoving means without materially affecting the re sistance of saidelement, means whereby further movement of a portion of the resistancedecreas--- ing increases the resistance of said element said movingincluding electron'lagnetic means for so moi-ing said portion inresponse to fluctuations in an electrical quantity to be regulated.

5. Regulating means including a regulating element affected. byvariation in pressure thereupon, means for exerting pressure upon saidelement, electromagnetic means for moving said element withoutmaterially affecting the pressure exerted by the pressure exerting meansthereupon the magnetic effort of which is functionally affected by saidmovement and means causing further movement of said moving means toalter the pressure upon said element.

6. Regulating means including a regulating element the effect of whichis varied by variation in pressure thereupon, means for exertingpressure upon said element, means for moving said element withoutmaterially affecting pressure upon said element, said movementfunctionally affecting the effort of the moving means and means causingsaid moving means to vary the pressure upon said element.

7. Regulating means including a regulating ele ment the effect of whichis varied by variation in pressure thereupon, means for exertingpressure upon said element, electro-magnetic means for moving saidelement without materially affecting pressure upon said element, saidmovement functionally affecting the effort of the moving means and meanscausing said moving means to vary the pressure upon said element.

8. Regulating means including a regulating element the effect of whichis varied by variation in pressure thereupon, means for exertingpressure upon said element, electro-responsive means for moving saidelement without materially affecting pressure upon said element, saidmovement functionally affecting the effort of the moving means and meanscausing said moving means to vary the pressure upon said element.

9. Regulating means including a regulating element the effect of whichis varied by variation in pressure thereupon, means for exertingpressure upon said element, voltge-responsive means for moving saidelement without materially affecting pressure upon said element, saidmovement functionally affecting the effort of the moving means and meanscausing said moving means to vary the pressure upon said element.

10. Regulating means including a regulating element the effect of whichis varied by variation in pressure thereupon, means for exertingpressure upon said element, current-responsive means for moving saidelement without materially affecting pressure upon s element, saidmovement functionally affecting the effort of the moving means and meanscausing said moving means to vary the pressure upon said element.

11. Regulating means including a regulating element the effect of whichis varied by variation in pressure thereupon, means for exertingpressure upon said element, electromagnetic voltage and currentresponsive means for moving said element functionally to vary the effortper ampere turn of the electromagnetic means without materiallyaffecting pressure upon said element and means causing said moving meansto vary the pressure upon said element.

12. Means for regulating a generator having a field, comprising meansfor controlling a generator field including a regulating element, meansaffecting the re lating effect or said element, means for moving saidelement and said affecting means without materially affecting theregulating effect of said element including an electromagnet and anarmature and means whereby said moving means may affect the effect ofsaid magnet per ampere turn upon said armature.

13. Means for regulating a generator having a field, comprisin means forcontrolling a generator field including a regulating element, meansaffecting the regulating effect of said element, means responsive to afunction of generator output for moving said element and said affectingmeans functionally to affect the mOVing means by varying theresponsiveness thereof without affecting the regulating effect of saidelement and means whereby said moving means may affect the effect ofsaid element to regulate a generator by controlling said field.

14. Means for regulating a generator having a field, comprising meansfor controlling a generator field including a regulating element, meansaffecting the regulatin effect of said element, automatic means formoving said element and said affecting means to adjust the operatingcharacteristic of the moving means without materially affecting theregulating effect of said element and means whereby said moving meansmay be caused to affect the effect of said element to regulate agenerator by controlling said field in response to fluctuations tendingto take place in a function of the output of the generator.

15. A generator regulator including a compressible rheostat, compressingmeans therefor, an electro-magnet adapted to be energized by a functionof a generator output, an armature for said magnet located in arelatively weak portion of the field of said magnet till said functionreaches a predetermined Value and then moving toward said magnet into arelatively strong portion of said field and moving the compressing meansWithout materially affecting the effect of the compressing means uponthe rheostat and means whereby said armature While in said strongportion of said field may affect the compression of said rheostat.

16. Regulation means suitable for use in a system wherein a generatordriven at variable speed is used to charge a storage battery, includinga regulating element for affecting the generator voltage upon changes inpressure applied to said element, means for applying pressure upon saidelement, means for controlling the pressureapplying means comprising anelectro-magnet having a field which varies rapidly with respect todistance therefrom, an armature in said field, means for holding saidarmature in a weak portion of said field until a predetermined voltageis reached upon said generator and then permitting the armature to moveinto a strong portion of said field and while so doing move the saidelement and pressure-applying means without materially affecting thepressure applied by said means to said element, and means wherebymovement of said armature while in said strong portion of said fieldaffects the pressure upon said element to regulate the generator.

17. Regulating means including a regulating element, means forshort-circuiting said element, and electro-magnetic means for movingsaid element to affect the magnetic circuit of the electromagnetic meansfunctionally and breaking said short-circuit without materiall affectingthe resistance of said element.

18. In a system employing a variable speed generator and a storagebattery charged thereby, automatic means for regulating the generatoragainst speed and load changes including a compressible rheostatcontrolling the generator output, means for compressing said rheostat,means responsive to a function of the generator output including anelectro-magnet and an armature for moving the rheostat and compressingmeans without materially affecting the pressure exerted by thecompressing means to vary the effect of said magnet per ampere turn uponsaid armature and means whereby said responsive means may be caused toaffect the pressure upon said rheostat.

19. A regulator suitable for use in combination with a variable speedgenerator, and a storage battery charged thereby, including a carbonpile for regulating the generator and means responsive to a function ofthe generator output for operating said pile to regulate the generatorby controlling the field current thereof, means responsive to changes infield current for varying the amount of said field current carried bysaid pile and means actuated by change in value of a function ofgenerator output for affecting the operation of the said varying means.

20. Regulating means including a regulating element the effect of whichis varied by variations in pressure thereupon, means applying pressureupon said element, means for adding pressure upon said element andelectro-responsive means for moving the element and relieving thepressure due to said pressure adding means and then relieving thepressure due to the pressure applying means.

21. An electric regulator including a regulating element in an electriccircuit, electromagnetic responsive means operating said element tocontrol the current in said circuit, means controlled by the current insaid circuit for diverting current around said element and automaticvoltage responsive means for controlling the operation of said divertingmeans.

22. An electric regulator including a regulating element in an electriccircuit, electromagnetic responsive means operating said element tocontrol the current in said circuit, means controlled by the current insaid circuit for diverting current around said element and automaticresponsive means for affecting the operation of said last-mentionedmeans.

JOHN L. CREVELING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,217,858 Crevelin Feb. 27, 19171,394,148 Creveling Oct. 18, 1921 1,420,820 Creveling June 27, 19221,622,282 Hulse Mar. 29, 1927 1,939,870 Wike Dec. 19, 1933 2,233,772Creveling Mar. 4, 1941

